Stay Sharp
by ClassyMuse
Summary: A mission before the Invasion comes back to haunt them. What does this boy know?
1. Chapter 1

_Prologue: Pre-Invasion, Mount Justice_

The holo-screen in the middle of the room flashed a few images of the team's new mission. Two images were security footage from opposing secret intelligence agencies in Russia and one of a school photo from a academy in suburban London without a name dated a year and half earlier. He had short blond hair in all the pictures and looked like he was built to fight a war.

"The agencies have both reported thefts from their files and neither side has received what was stolen. Obviously they declined to tell what was stolen, but it was of value to them. You are to find him and bring into our custody." Batman kept this meeting brief.

Nightwing found something odd about this, "These agencies have extreme security locks that would take me a half hour to hack into, easily enough time to get caught. How does hhe get past them and live to see another day?"

"That is where you and your team are coming in. He is a metahuman and elusive at that." The Dark Knight pulled two more images onto the screen. "These were taken in Hawaii and in Paris."

"There has to be something from airports."

"No. He is also not in any data base for traveling or security footage. If I can believe it, He appears out of thin air."

/ / /

_Now: A year and a half later, post-invasion, Star City._

Green Arrow had called Red Arrow as back up when the cross-cultural fests began. As much as Oliver Queen loved the festivities, it was Green Arrow who loathed it at night. Ethnic gangs and mobs had a tendency to cross paths in a violent manner. He needed the back up and another set of eyes. He couldn't believe that his estranged partner agreed to help him.

They watched the streets from the rooftops and shadows, but Red Arrow didn't have the focus he should have. It had been almost six months since the Young Justice team had prevented the invasion and defeated The Light, but something from the past was began bothering him since the day they announced their victory. Only recently did it leave him slightly paranoid. Green Arrow told him to keep his eyes out for anything that didn't fit in the picture whenever they went out on patrol in the past, but only tonight he took his advice.

Below him he saw a young man not wearing any ethnic garb. He was wearing a ball cap, brown jacket, and jeans. It was typical for people to do so at events such as these, but his movements suggested that he didn't belong there. He was careful and looked suspicious of his environment. That didn't fit in the picture. He tapped his earpiece, "GA, I think I found something. I'm going after it."

"Don't disappear on me," he replied.

Red Arrow eased his way down to the dark alley keeping his eye on the man, he collapsed his bow and tried to blend in to the crowd, and picking up his pace to stay on his heals. The closer he got the more he realized that he looked familiar. Blond hair, big build. His mind flashed back to a mission brief before the invasion.

The boy from London, who popped up everywhere, stole intelligence, and was to be brought into custody. With the invasion happening, that mission was put on the back burner and forgotten, until that night. He stopped but Roy tugged on his sleeve, trying to be subtle to make his capture almost unnoticeable compared to the chaos on the streets. He turned to him and looked at Red Arrow with a look of fear. The man grabbed Roy's arm and twisted it, strong and fast, nearly flipping him over flat on his back. He bolted into the crowd, out of Red Arrow's grip.

He cursed and pressed his earpiece, "GA, I'm on pursuit. Male, roughly six foot, brown jacket and ball cap. Just be on call in case this gets out of hand."

He ran after him dodging bystanders, following him into an alley with a dead end. The man turned towards Red Arrow, but seeing the genuine fear in his eyes the archer changed his aggressive approach, holding out a hand. The man looked at it suspiciously. "Я никогда не будет работать для вас!" he snapped.

He was perplexed by what he heard. Was that Russian? He wasn't fluent in it but he could make out that he didn't want to work for him. It was a case of mistaken identity. In a case like that, it usually meant that the man was being hunted down and those people needed rescuing.

What happened next he didn't expect; the man's lower half of his body began to fade into thin air. "No, wait!" he grabbed his hand, hoping he could stop whatever he was doing. There was bright flash, he shielded his eyes.

After a moment he felt that he had lost his grip. When he opened his eyes he was shocked to see that he wasn't in that alley in the dark, but on a rooftop in an arid city. He looked around and saw the man running again, leaping from top to top. Red Arrow got up and continued his pursuit. He watched the man's movements carefully now seeing that they were labored. Red Arrow was going to catch him. Wherever he went he wasn't too far behind. He followed him through the canvas roofs he jumped through taking off on the ground, up and around corridors, and onto the streets. Per norm the streets were chaotic and dangerous, particularly in the square he ran into. The man spotted two bystanders getting on their motorbikes on the edge of the curb. He was quick to push one of them off and take off into the streets through the plethora of traffic conundrums. Red Arrow did the same, hell bound and determined to never lose his sight on him.

The man too was determined to shake the stranger off his trail. He wasn't supposed to be found, He was to lay low and disappear from the radar of the few, but powerful, people who wanted him. He drove into an exit that took a high overpass. He planned to jump and disappear again. His fade this time would be less noticeable to any civilians. Red Arrow could see what he was going to do and increased haste. He wasn't quite sure if he was on a suicide run or was trying to disappear into the air again, but he wasn't going to let either happen.

The man jumped gracefully off the ledge and he followed. He changed his form to be more aerodynamic to catch him. The man began to fade by the time Red Arrow grabbed his arm and placed a tracer on his sleeve, just before they hit the ground. There was another flash of light so bright Red Arrow had to close his eyes again.

When he opened them he found himself laying in the middle of what looked like a landfill, and his target had already taken off into the slum housing. "Fuck," the archer grumbled.

He knew from past missions that slums were the worst place to go on a chase. It was easy to get lost in the makeshift, poverty stricken environment. He pulled out his GPS tracker, "Mumbai?!" His tracer was slow but not far. He was going to find him, but he had to let him believe that he was safe therefore easy to subdue. Something in the back of his brain said this guy wasn't going to come quietly.

The man was exhausted but not from the running. He was used to running; it was the other thing he did that zapped his energy. What he did required focus and raw energy, and that was to do it without being exhausted at the end. The way he was doing to escape Red Arrow was only helped by adrenaline, and that was worse. He ran into the slums ducking behind huts, some that were inhabited, and a school. He settled for a section between two huts that was surrounded by blue tarps and fell to his knees gasping for breath. He felt safer now. There was no way the archer could in his mind find him. He had to rest for a little bit before he could think of a different place to disappear to. Canada sounded great, preferably Vancouver.

Red Arrow walked slowly through the slums until he found his tracer. He pulled from his pocket and expanded an inhibitor collar so the man wouldn't be able to fade away. Then he pulled out a taser in case he wouldn't come quietly. When he pulled the tarp aside he found the kid on his knees, but he was quick to try to knock him off his feet and run again. From the ground he yanked on his ankle and pulled him back, straddled him and locked the collar on his neck. "Я не буду тихо. Вам никогда не будет меня," he mumbled into the dirt. He spun around from under him and grabbed his shoulders, ready to head-butt him, but Red Arrow was just little faster, and tased him. He dropped, unconscious under him. He was panting still from the chase that took him across the globe. This kid didn't want to be found.

Red Arrow checked his surroundings and moved the kid's body farther from the streets in a secluded alley nearby. He pressed his earpiece, "Red to Green, I found him and have him in custody. I'm going to need a zeta-beam to get him to the Watchtower. I have…no idea where a zeta tube would be at the moment."

Green Arrow, still in Star City, was perplexed by what his protégé just said. "What do you mean you have no idea where it's at? You use it more than I do. I guess I can send a beam your way for the Watchtower. Where are you?"

"Mumbai, somewhere in the slums."

"How the hell did you end up there?!"

"I don't know, but whoever I just caught will have to fill us in on the how and why."

_**This went without beta-ing. I'm sure it shows. I am excited about how this is going to turn out though. I love suspense. Leave a comment below and let me know.**_


	2. Chapter 2

They looked through the glass to see a young man angry, trying to get free. He was constantly shutting his eyes, looking like he was focusing on an escape through his mind but failing to do so. Batman, Red Arrow, and Nightwing looked at her, all of them trying to reason with the situation. The Batman was frustrated with the team and himself for practically forgetting this case. He commended Red Arrow for finding him, although his methods were questionable. Not in the bad way but as to the how he went from Star City to Mumbai. "Red Arrow, you found him, this is your case now," he told the archer.

It wasn't that he wanted to but he didn't know how to break the language barrier, "He speaks Russian. I know I don't."

The Batman replied, "I will be communicating with you the whole time translating for you. He should be able to speak English with all her traveling experience, but we can't be sure of anything."

"Then why don't you speak to him?"

He gave the archer the infamous batglare that sent Red Arrow into the interrogation room. The man had lost his jacket and was sitting in jeans and a purple t-shirt, handcuffed to the chair (which was bolted to the floor) with an inhibitor collar on. He could see that the kid was focusing on getting free. He glared at Red Arrow as he was sitting down and then spat on him. "Я никогда не буду говорить. (I will never talk.)" he snarled.

"_You say 'Вы здесь безопасно. Мы имеем в виду никакого вреда. Мы просто должны вопросы.' (You are safe here, We mean no harm. We just have questions.)"_

Red Arrow slowly but surely recited those words.

"Вот что они говорят принести людей вроде меня в. (That's what they say to bring people like me in)," he retorted.

"_Alright, you have to earn his trust. 'Кто является после вас?' (Who is after you?)'"_

He chuckled, "Я знаю этот трюк. Вы пытаетесь заработать мое доверие обмануть меня в рабочих для агентства пуля. Я бы скорее умереть, чем работа для людей, как управление и кровавый, как вы. (I know this trick. You are trying to earn my trust to fool me into working for the Bullet Agency. I would rather die than work for people as controlling and as murderous as you.)"

Red Arrow touched his communicator, "What is the translation to Do-you-speak-english? I don't think we are going to get anything accomplished."

"_Agreed. A Russian organization would be after her, changing the language could disprove her assumption. Вы говорите по-англиский?"_

He quickly recited the question, but he did not answer at first. "Yeah, I speak English." Red Arrow was relieved to get past the language barrier. The accent barrier was something else. It was a mix of things but had the undeniable hint of northern England.

"Who is after you?" he asked.

"How do I know you aren't going to turn me into them, or how do I know you are working for them?"

"Because I work for the Justice League."

He cocked a skeptical eyebrow at him, "Right. Then prove it. I won't be speaking anymore until you got some hard proof."

Red Arrow looked behind him at the glass and waved Batman and Nightwing into the room. They entered, but he was less than impressed. "Costumes. I have seen dozens of them everywhere I have gone. For all I know I could be in some dressed up basement. You should all try a little harder. You think you can get away with a full costume that covers anything but your jaw lines? Ha, even I know Superman isn't nearsighted."

Batman held up a small remote, "This device controls the inhibitor collar on your neck. It is designed to suppress any meta actions you possess."

"Yeah, new toys. Who did you kill to get them made for you?"

"They were developed in the Watchtower."

"Who do you think you're kidding? Man, you're the naïve bloke, The Bullet has those just lying around."

The Batman introduced the two younger men in the room believing his existence was already known. "You swear you are not working for the agency. Because if you are sleeper agents I will not go quietly. Not after everything they have done."

"One way or another we will get information from you about you and this agency." The three of them turned for the door.

"I have been trained by their former agents, the ones that got away. I know all their tricks and torture methods. Good luck with that," he said, venom kissing his words.

Once the door was shut he pressed a button right on the right side of the doorjam which released an anesthetic gas. He coughed, but was quickly out cold. Nightwing shuddered at the sight. They never liked to do this, but he didn't leave them much of a choice. It was humane. "You have any ideas from here?"

"We could call J'onn, slip into his mind and get information out that way," Red Arrow suggested. The Batman just walked away with the two following on his heels. "Nightwing, you and Batgirl research whatever you can on them. Red Arrow, I want you to contact M'gann and bring in her in to unlock his memories."

The two young heros stopped when they heard that last sentence. "After what happened to Aqualad you want to bring her in? She is suspended from all activity within the League and the team, you said so yourself." Nightwing still considered her a friend, but after what she did to Kaldur he had his doubts. She was able to help him piece his mind back together in the end, btu the fact that she had that power scared them. She wasn't careful anymore about keeping her emotions and power in check. He as team leader would not risk having someone, who was possibly innocent, be lobotomized.

"J'onn is off-world. You want answers, you want them now, you have to improvise and learn to forgive. She is on probationary status as of right now. I will send Black Canary to supervise." He stepped into a zeta-tube and vanished.

Nightwing sighed as his mentor left, "I'm going to give M'gann a call and start on this research project."

"What do you want me to do?"

"You found him, your call."

/ / /

The first time he did it was after he had a fight with his father. The routine was the same, he came home from the mines, have four or five drinks, then it was a matter of walking on eggshells until he went to work the next morning. One night his father thought his mother was sneaking his booze away from him and he remedied the situation ending with a trip to the emergency room with a cooked up story about falling down the stairs. They didn't have any, they lived in a one-story house. He had come home from his job seeing his father sitting passed out in front of the television and his mother on the floor unable get up. When his father caught word of the emergency room visit they had an all out war that required three security gaurds to break them up. His father had a few words exchanged that followed the line that it was his fault that he was drinking the way he was. He had run out of the building and hid in his car and that was when it happened. He had a fantasy that he would take his mother away from it all and they would vacation out in the Virgin Islands. The next thing he knew he was on a dark beach.

The second time it happened it was after he had gotten off his shift at the library down the street from where his family lived. He liked working there, it was quiet, he was able to study for his exams and keep his grades up while supplementing the family income lost to his father's vices. His mom was proud of him. It was winter and his car wouldn't start and he had to wait for his mom to pick him up from her shift at the local diner hall near the mines. As the snow of the evening fluttered down he thought about a place he read about in the National Geographic, New Zealand. The article was more specific about the town of Wellington. He closed his eyes and he later found himself in the middle of a gutter next to a flier about the elections in, you guessed it, Wellington.

Getting home wasn't too difficult, it just happened.

The third time happened he would never forget. He had returned home from a night out with a few buddies from school one evening and he could hear his father carrying on from inside. He didn't see any sign of his mother's car. Drunk bastard. He decided to go for a walk that evening to avoid being around the pisspoor excuse of a parent. When he returned it was quiet and the lights were on. His mother's car was in the driveway. When he entered he was disturbed by what he saw: The furniture was turned over, lamps were knocked over, heirloom china was broken and shards were covering the floor. He assumed his mother had gone up to bed since he couldn't find her anywhere else. He got up to her room and found that the door was locked. At least she was able to be safe, he thought. He ignored his father who was passed out on the floor of the living room and began to put the house back together, stepping over him in the process. He was halfway done with the kitchen when he noticed blood trailing from the kitchen to the coat closet. He opened the door and found his mother, crumpled up at the bottom of the tiny space. Immediately he began to panic. There was blood coming from her mouth and her side. She wasn't responding to his pleas for her to wake up. She felt too cold. She was still in her diner dress. How could this be, he thought. Her door was locked! Suddenly his father appeared in the doorway with the look of anger and despair. "What have you done, you son of a bitch?!"

The kid was at a loss of words. "What happened to her dad?"

"You did this! It is your fault she's dead now! You are the reason she is dead!" His father picked up the phone from the wall cradle and dialed for the police.

It was a blur after that. The medics and coroner wheeled away his mother's body, took a statement from his father, and he was so out of it he didn't even realize that the cops had him cuffed. It wasn't until they were lifting him to his feet that it hit him that his father condemned him for nothing. His father pushed his mother's murder on him. The kid fought the cops all the way out to the patrol car and all the way to the jail. He kept saying it wasn't him, it wasn't him, it wasn't him. What the hell else was he supposed to do? Something wasn't right. Would it be fair to blame his father, of course, the bastard deserved it, but it was the locked door that bothered him.

The first hour in jail he curled into the corner and cried. He wanted to be anywhere but there in a cell alone. He wanted to go home with his mom. He closed his eyes and focused on being somewhere else, hoping that location jump worked on-demand just this once. For some reason, Saint Petersburg came to mind. She had heard they were experiencing a nasty blizzard and was fascinated by the culture in history class. Images on the news channel showed people nearly disappearing in to the blowing snow. He just wanted to disappear like that. He closed her eyes and thought about it. He felt himself being blown over by a gust of wind. When he opened his eyes all he saw was snow.

_**You will all learn more about this kid as the story goes on. I want to show the team learning and have his own story to be told. Patience. **_


	3. Chapter 3

Red Arrow had called Black Canary and M'gann but took the initiative to keep the man in their custody sedated. It would be for her own safety, though he injected him reluctantly. M'gann hoped that it would relax his mind and she could get information easier. They kept him in the interrogation room while they worked. Nightwing was waist deep in research; hacking for him was simple, but he had to jump through flaming hoops to get past whatever the Bullet Agency was hiding. His side research included identifying her. He had no name, no number, nothing. It was like he manifested out of nothing.

Very little was said when M'gann arrived with Black Canary who stood to the side supervising as she knelt down to the man laying limp on the floor, Red Arrow by her side. The martian was cautious of her own power after what she had done to Aqualad. The fact she used her power in a fit of rage, something she was taught specifically to never do, frightened her about whether or not she could control it. Softy she placed her hands on the sides of the man's face and focused on touching his memories. It wasn't long before M'gann spoke to Red Arrow. "I have a name now, Billy," she said quietly. She focused some more, "He's from Durham, and…was arrested…was called on by his own parents…it's a painful memory." She pulled her hands back and refocused on reality and sighed , "I haven't seen anything this kind of abuse in a long time, but I will give him credit on living through it." M'gann didn't touch her again.

"What happened? What else did you see?" Red Arrow asked.

"That's the problem. I can't see anything more. Even unconscious he has put up barriers around his memories."

"We have enough to work with though, right?"

"Not exactly. What I saw goes as far back as three years ago."

"Damn it. Can't you go back in there and try harder?" he sighed.

M'gann didn't want to, she shook her head. "I don't think I can without hurting him, not after what I did to Kaldur."

Black Canary knelt down beside the martian and put her hand on her shoulder, "M'gann, you have been approved for probation within the team. We have confidence that you will never do that again. You don't need to be scared of yourself, especially when you are needed. Nothing will happen." Damn was Black Canary convincing when she went into den mother mode. M'gann touched the now identified man's head and focused further into his memories. They waited anxiously to hear what he was seeing. "He was in Russia for a while. He learned to speak it fluently from an older couple….the man taught him how to fight combat…the woman taught him…I don't know, they were in different places wearing the same clothes…They talked a lot…" M'gann face went from serious to somber. "There was blood. There were dark shadows in suits. The couple…I can't see…but there was sadness."

M'gann pulled her hands away and a silent tear streamed down her green cheek. Red Arrow spoke, "I think we have enough now."

/ / /

The four of them, circled around the holo-screen that displayed loads of information on the Bullet Agency and a few tidbits on the man, now known as Billy. Nightwing rattled on for a while about how he proudly bypassed some of the security frames until Red Arrow cleared his throat as a sign for his teammate to get to the point. "Right, the Bullet Agency is a rogue espionage and assassination service out of Russia," he stated.

Red Arrow shrugged, "Alright nothing new there, but why would a british kid like him being running or stealing from them?"

"This is where it gets complicated. They _recruit_ meta-humans with stealth skills. Their recruitment services and human resource department are not that kind. They blackmailed and hunted down some of their people, very few go in willingly."

M'gann, "I couldn't get through much of his memories. He holds up a good barrier. What exactly is his skill?"

"Teleportation. They have a lot of those…and have lost a few of those. They prefer to have them on their team missions for obvious reasons of being scarce and next to untraceable when on a mission."

Black Canary eyes scanned the files. All the research that Batman's protégé had done was impressive but she couldn't help but be bothered by the lack of files on just Billy in general. "What do we know about him?"

The three younger members looked at each other realizing they were missing a big part of the picture. "We have a name to go with the face and have deduced that he isn't a threat to anyone here," Red Arrow stated.

"Yes, but they would too. If you want to get him to speak and tell his story you need to know things and understand him in a way that would convince him that he is in a safe place and in no way is his life threatened. From what I understand from Batman he holds his ground."

/ / /

Billy felt like he was in a fog. His body felt heavy and ached. When the haze lifted he remembered what had happened. He was still in the interrogation room with a collar wrapped around his neck, but this time he was no handcuffed to the chair. In front of him sat Red Arrow and Miss Martian. He scoffed at them, "Nice spray paint job missy. Seriously, you have to try harder to convince me that you are not one of them."

M'gann knew this would happen so she transformed to her white martian form in front of Billy. He nearly shrieked. Red Arrow leaned in over the table, "Convinced now?"

M'gann returned to her green form, "We will not harm you. We just want to know who you are and why you are running. If you tell us what you know we can help you." She spoke in a low voice, trying to emit a calm vibe that would convince Billy that he was safe and no one was going to hurt him.

He pointed to the collar, "Then is this bloody thing still on me."

"We can't help you if you teleport away. You would rather go on the run and go back to being hunted again?" Red Arrow asked bluntly.

He shook her head.

"Alright, first we are going to ask some basic questions so we can get an idea of who you are. The League and Young Justice will not share any of this information. The more you tell us the quicker we can get this over with, okay?" He had a tablet ready in hand.

Billy shook his head in reluctant agreement.

"Okay, full name?"

"William Harold Young."

"Age?"

"Seventeen."

"DOB?"

"December sixteenth."

"Place of origin?"

"Durham, England."

"I know this is a bad question to ask but who are your parents?"

Billy stayed quiet.

"Where are they?"

Billy shook his head, "It doesn't matter. My mum is gone and my father is a selfish drunken bastard. Wouldn't surprise me if he is dead in the house from drowning his liver."

There was a silence between them. It was one thing to be teenage angst, but this disdain sounded so pure.

Red Arrow continued, "Your skill is teleportation, right?"

"Yeah. It's not exactly a refined skill."

"Well we can help you with that if you wish." He got up and headed towards the door. "I will leave you with Miss Martian. Just give us a call if you two need anything."

He stepped back behind the glass to watch with Nightwing. The former Robin seemed optimistic, "Nice idea leaving those two together."

The archer shrugged, "Canary said something like he would be better off spilling his guts out to the nearest female closest to his age. I think it is a trust thing."

"The best thing we can do is watch and learn."

_**I got the big set up for the next chapter. Be one of the cool kids and leave a few words below!**_


	4. Chapter 4

M'gann tried to get comfortable sitting across from Billy who at this point was sitting cross-armed with a painful scowl on his face. He was back to not talking. The martian tried again to reach his mind, but a conscious Billy proved to be more relentless on the defense.

Time to go old school.

The green girl cleared her throat, "So you are a teleporter? You must have been to some really neat places, huh." She tried to be friendly since it was obvious that the team still had a lot of work to do to gain his trust. "I mean, you can go where you want without the pesky traveling. It's like you can go on vacation without the hassle."

Billy locked M'gann out and tightened her jaw.

The martian sighed seeing the friendly approach to getting Billy to talk was a fruitless effort. "Look, in order to help you, we need to you cooperate with us. We need to know what the agency has done so we can keep them away from you and save anyone else."

Billy looked up at her, his eyes piercing and cold. "You can't save anyone. No one is really safe or free from them." His accent was thicker now. It was easy to tell what part of England he came from.

M'gann leaned in closer, looking concerned. "Why? What do they do?"

The blond haired boy swallowed, "I don't know how they know people like me exist, or the others. They find you and then they take you, they barter with you, threatening the lives of your friends and family, sometimes they take them completely so you got nothin' to live for."

"Then what?"

"They train you. They send you on small missions. If you fail they put you in a dark place for, I don't know, a week. Sometimes longer. It is like solitary confinement in prisons, ya'know, but they come back either so fucked up in the head they can't function or something like being brainwashed."

"How do you know this? What have they done to you?"

He pulled down the collar of his shirt to his lower neck, close to his collar bone and showed M'gann his two circular scars. They didn't look like bites, more like poke burns. "They only had me for a moment, when I first landed in Russia. I just barely dodge them after that. I just meet others, the few who have survived."

"The Russian couple?"

Billy had yet to say a word about them. The martian had probed him, invaded his mind. "Did you meddle with my memories, bitch?"

M'gann looked down feeling slightly guilty. "It was the only way to gain some understanding of you. We had to figure out how we could gain your trust and know why you ran from Red Arrow."

"I was trained to always be on my guard. I was trained by a couple who managed to escape them, for a while at least."

"Were they teleporters too?"

"Yeah. They taught me all that they could so I wouldn't be caught, since I was rather green to my...skill."

"How many have you met?"

"Just them."

"Then how do you know there are others?"

Billy straightened up, "I broke in to find out why they went after them. I pulled files. They know where others are. They either are going after or have them by now. It is because they know their secrets, going to burn them, and they need new recruits, ya know, to keep their stock of us balanced."

"Tell us who they are so we can save them," M'gann suddenly felt the severity of the situation. There are others out there that needed to be saved, to be rescued, so they didn't go through the same hell Billy and others before him did.

Billy looked down at his hands in defeat, "There is nothing you can do. They are always watching us. You can never escape them. If you betray them or try to escape you end up dead. No exceptions. If you escape, they find you, it is just a matter of when and how well you hide."

It was clear that Billy was damaged and paranoid. They wanted to help him, but there was only so much they as young adults could do for him and the others. M'gann stretched her hand out to Billy's and looked into his eyes, "There is only so much I can do, but I will do whatever I can within the League to have you protected."

The boy only raised his eyes enough to acknowledge what the martian said. "Wishful thinking."

/ / /

The League granted Billy temporary refuge until they could learn more from him. He had nothing to hide, but he wanted to for normalacy; hiding was all he had known in the last few years. They kept the collar on him and monitored his behavior throughout the cave, which there was hardly any while they rebuild. Nightwing had called Batman and Green Arrow to consult on what to do with their find and findings. Red Arrow looked after Billy, to make sure he didn't do anything rash, though it seemed obvious that he wasn't going to turn down guaranteed protection and safe housing. Anything they did to announce their arrival so he didn't jump out of his skin did the exact opposite resulting with apologies and unintentional bruising. The kid packed a punch.

What they found and knew they didn't like. What the agency did with those who escaped them was a bloody mess. You would think they would have a metahuman with the ability to wipe memories clean, but no. They had killed many on top of the ones they assassinated for profit. They had secrets going as far back as the First World War. It wasn't clear, since half the documents from the sixties weren't digitized in their files (the ones projected on the holoscreen), but it was possible that they were involved in the JFK and MLK Jr assassination. God only knew what else they were responsible for. How could something like this slip under the noses of the Justice League they will never know.

They brought Billy out and had him identify the images of those from his stolen files and those who were taken out by the agency. He placed names with most of them, but two images of an older couple from Saint Petersburg, Russia, profiles and distant candid pictures, nearly brought him to his knees with silent tears. "Vlad Kosavka and his wife, Rosa. That's who they are," he muttered. "They were teleporters too." He rambled on in russian pushing away anyone who dared to get near him until he picked himself up and walked back to his place of residence in the cave with a vibe of fury following behind him.

/ / /

"The League has agreed to grant him permanent refuge under Young Justice," Batman stated. "He will also be mentored and rehabilitated while both teams find a way to surface the Bullet Agency and expose them."

Green Arrow was skeptical of this decision, but after what he had heard from Nightwing's findings, Red Arrow's chase, and M'gann interview he couldn't find the heart to say no to the proposal. What Batman was suggesting was training and integrating him into the team, if he so chose. "There is one flaw. Every one of the protégés has a mentor with similar skills or some relation. He has no one and we have no one for him. Who are you suggesting that we pair him up with?"

Batman was quick with a response, "I have chosen Red Arrow."

The room fell silent. Red Arrow looked at the Dark Knight with absolute shock. "You have to be kidding right?"

"I don't kid around. You found him, he is your responsibility."

"What about M'gann? He opened up pretty damn well with her during interrogation."

"She is still on probation which isn't ideal as a mentor. She invaded his mind, granted for our own purposes, but it can be assured that Billy does not trust her."

"Alright, what about Nightwing."

The former Robin scratched the back of his head, a sign to his team they have learned that he was hiding something. "Spill it, bird boy," Red Arrow snarled.

"I'm kinda not allowed as of now."

"Not after the stunt you pulled defeating the Light and their partner," Batman was still not thrilled of his protégé's plan to defeat them. The results were good, but the aftermath from the deceit were an indication to the Dark Knight that his old sidekick needed to be schooled.

Red Arrow knew there was no escape from Batman's word. Whatever Batman says goes. The archer had to rehabilitate and possibly mentor a teleporter, all the things he had no experience in. "I lack the skills and refinement to teach this kid, you know that?"

"You won't be alone. Black Canary will drop by every so often to check on your progress," Green Arrow stated. He pulled a small square device from his belt and tossed it to Red Arrow. "From what I understand he has a habit of slipping in and out of languages. You'll need a translator."

Batman continued his speech, "The inhibitor collar stays on. Until we know the full force of his abilities it is in the interest of your safety that it remains on him."

"And the Bullet Agency?" Red Arrow asked.

"They will be brought down. End of discussion."

/ / /

What Billy remembered of being found by the Bullet Agency could be likened to his favorite American show, Firefly, where they explained how River ended up as fucked up as she was. The memory haunted him in his sleep night after night making him either thrash or scream. Instead of being tested however he was mentally manipulated. He remembered between the torment and interrogations how they spoke in Russian, but thankfully he picked up some in school, and knew they thought he was special. He was powerful and could be a great tool when he realized his potential. He was scared of what he could do. It wasn't natural and it wasn't exactly safe for him. He could be in the ocean near a great white shark if he wasn't careful. But mostly he was scared because he passed out sometimes after using his…ability. Sometimes when he woke up he found new marks on his body that resembled pin pricks. God only knew what they did to him.

He remembered being collared and struggled to breath with it on. It was too tight. He could feel the electrode prongs piercing through his neck.

Billy went into panic mode when they put that on him every time. After they placed it on him they put him in a dark room. In order to keep it together he retreated into his mind, his happy memories precisely before the drinking that consumed his father, his old friends, and his employer at the library bringing him dinner when he worked late sorting. All Billy had to do was think about snow and he was free again, even if that was just in his mind.


	5. Chapter 5

One Month Later:

The kid had spunk, which was a major improvement from being next to totally silent and evasive of everyone in the cave. He spoke when spoken to, but not without a quick smart-ass remark or comment. Roy let him call him by his civilian name; he did whatever he could to gain Billy's trust. He was Billy's mentor now despite their closeness in age, but it seemed to work in their favor; everything about their mentor-student relationship was relaxed and informal, completely different from the others. The tension seemed to break, for the moment anyway. But when Roy left the cave the team was left at square one with Billy.

While Roy was out Nightwing found the seventeen year-old in the gym working on combat training. Billy had skill, basic, but he was fast on his feet. It was the aggression that had him concerned. There was a moment when he watched him lose control and let rage and anger take over, breaking some of the equipment in the process along with some primal screaming. When he stopped he struggled to catch his breath, then he sauntered away exhausted. One time Nightwing caught blood on Billy's knuckles. Roy caught wind of this episode and made an effort to train with him more often.

Billy was a scheduled person. Everything about her movements was regimented. Nightwing said that was rather common for people who lived on the run, to keep a non-scheduled schedule as he called it. They always had a plan so they wouldn't get caught or stay under the radar as long as possible. Billy worked out and trained in the early mornings before breakfast and then did nothing. Sometimes he read, Jack London was his favorite.

Roy made sure to wake up early enough to catch Billy in the gym, and when he entered in sweats and a grey Gotham University t-shirt (something 'borrowed' from Nightwing), Roy was ready in his civies hanging up a new punching bag. "What are you doing here?" Billy asked.

Roy shrugged, "I'm your mentor, aren't I? I wanna see what your skills are since I get the feeling Nightwing down plays his descriptions."

Billy narrowed his eyes at him, "You all go as far as stalking me around the cave?"

"The team is just concerned."

"No need to be concerned about me."

"Says the kid who was running for his life from Russian kill organization."

Billy grumbled and cursed in russian under his breath. Roy didn't want to bother translating, he got the hint. Before they got started he asked Billy a few questions, as if he wasn't tired of them already. "You're all a bunch of nosey buggers. I told you what I know about the Bullet and what I stole, what more do you want from me."

Roy walked over to Billy and held his hands, the back of them facing the archer, mired in fresh cuts and bruises, "I want to know why a kid like you, who has been living in a safe place, feels like he needs to punch like he is fighting for his life."

Billy pulled his hands away from him, "Old habits die hard." Roy handed Billy the roll of athletic tape that was sitting on a bench. "Wrap those up, don't want you bleeding all over the equipment."

Billy wrapped his fists and began working on the heavy bag. With an audience he had to gain some control of his rage, but Roy wouldn't stop asking questions. It pissed him off.

The next day Roy came back but Billy sufficed to running on the treadmills. Roy watched him to figure out what made his student tick. "So what did you do for fun?" he asked. That question caught Billy off guard so much he stopped running and quickly fell off the treadmill face planting on the concrete. Roy made sure he was alright, but neither of them couldn't help but laugh at the comical fall. Billy laughing, even if it was little and at his own expense, was a first and soon to be a rarity. Billy brought himself up to a sitting position. "What the hell do you mean?" he asked.

"Exactly what I meant," Roy said, still laughing lightly. "What do you do for fun?"

Billy shrugged.

"You have traveled the world and haven't done anything fun. I find that very hard to believe."

"Yeah well, fun things got you noticed."

"Okay, what did you do for fun before you ended up in Russia?"

Corissa perked up, "Oh, well, um, I worked at a library."

"'Sounds like a blast," he deadpanned.

Billy sighed solemnly at the memory, "Yeah, but I brought some money back home and my school marks didn't suffer from it. It kept me out of trouble and out of my bastard father's way."

"Let me guess, if you wanted out or a quick way to get home you teleported, am I right?"

"Nah, I only discovered what I can do three years ago. I still need some refinement." Silence fell between them. The somewhat happy nature of the conversation went down from there. "I won't forget that night, ya know?"

Roy asked, "What night?" He wanted to understand.

Billy sniffed, "My last night back home." He shook his head at the memory of his mother's dead form and his father's drunken yelling. "I had a crappy life, and I really did try to make it better for my mum and I but, ya know, life like to throw punches at you. This ability, like my father, is one of those bruising punches that takes forever to heal."

Billy got up and started to work on the punching bag again, his anger being rather apparent. Roy deemed that the particular activity was therapeutic for him instead of talking. Billy probably would never truly open up about what makes him tick. Talking about Billy's past was deemed out of the question, but he had gotten a message from Batman earlier that morning about exploring Billy's power instead. Roy changed the subject, "So what's it like teleporting?"

"You were with me, you know," he spoke while he punched.

"Yeah, but I was just caught up in the process. You are the one who does it?"

Billy stopped punching and raised his hands nonchalantly, "What can I say? I focus on a place I want to go, sometimes I just have to picture the address as in a bloody phonebook and then I'm on my way."

Roy didn't buy it, "Doesn't seem like it works that way. Remember I found you weak in the slums. If you have been on the run for as long as you say you should be in pretty good shape."

Billy stepped back from punching the bag, "Teleporting isn't like you see in the movies. First you have to focus on a place you want to go then you have to focus energy on it."  
"Energy?"

"My skill works like a muscle. Every time you use it, it exhausts the body. I can teleport as many times I want throughout the day without any problems but I have to be careful about how frequently I do."

"Elaborate."

"I'm only good up to the third time, after the third I have to stop and rest or hope that adrenaline takes over so I can keep going on foot."

"Seems like you have had a lot of practice. What happens if you do more than three?" Roy asked.

Billy sighed, "I don't remember. What I do remember was doing a fourth and had…Vlad and Rosa freak out." Billy winced at the painful memory of finding them dead in their own home. "I remember getting the hang of it and I got cocky, tried to go from the living room to the attic in that hour, then I woke up and found out I was out for two days. Felt like a bloody hangover."

Roy stepped in front of him, "I think you have done enough for the day."

Billy perked up, "No, no, I want to keep going. I mean, this is nice, talking to you, I mean. Not just having to answer their questions through you."

He lifted Billy hands by his wrists inspecting them, some of the cuts were beginning to reopen. "I would rather these heal so we can. But I have a plan for you."

Billy gestured to the collar on his neck. It was itchy and uncomfortable, next to meaning less. He hadn't tried to teleport out since they took him in. It was an annoyance. "Does it involved getting this blasted thing off? Seriously, its been a month."

/ / /

Billy wasn't happy, but the League made it so. He had to have some kind of therapy with Black Canary. Roy insisted that he could trust her since he viewed Dinah as a pseudo-aunt. Batman came in a made a deal with the young teleporter to do one therapy session in return of getting the collar off.

Billy insisted that there was no reason for the psychotic treatment, if one could call it that, but Roy also insisted that it would do him some good, gesturing his wrapped up hands. Billy caved.

Black Canary knew this boy's story, at least what the files and interrogation videos from before had shown. Although the therapy session was planned Roy voiced his own concerns, starting with the mutilating of his hands when training. Billy had spunk, but he had a lot of anger too. He didn't want him to be like Connor, even if he liked the guy.

They all knew Billy wasn't a fan of the capes so Dinah kept it casual, including where they talked. The team was gone for an official day off leaving the cave empty save for Roy, Nightwing (who never took any time off) and them.

Dinah was relaxed and waited for Billy to begin first with any word. She knew how to get under his skin, and staring worked.

"What? Why are you staring?" Billy asked, annoyed.

"I'm just waiting on you to start," she replied.

"Tt to say what? You expect me to spill my guts out. I think the martian got all the information you need."

"Not exactly. We had a little trouble getting past your barriers in your mind, even when as you were blacked out."

Billy smiled deviously, "What can I say, I learned from the best."

"Vlad and Rosa?"

Hearing their names, although it was long since passed since their murder, the memory of was a like a stab in the heart. "Yeah, they were-are-the best."

"They must have taught you well. What else did they teach you?"

Billy stared down Dinah, "You are not going to give up until I tell you, huh?"

"I have all day."

"Fine. But listen up because I don't plan to repeat myself. I grew up in a decent part of North, mum tried really hard, but my father, ya see, was a bit more loyal to the Jameson than his own family. He would rather die for his bottle and damn near kill his family. A chain of events later I come home late and find my mother dead in a closet and my father calling the cops saying it was me, I get pulled into the cooler, and then I just thought about being somewhere else."

"And you were found."

Billy nodded. "The agency had me not too long, like two weeks, but that two weeks felt like forty years in hell."

Dinah didn't want to delve into those details. Not only did M'gann already see it, but she didn't want to have the boy relive the trauma. They had made so much progress with him. "Then you escaped-"

"Just barely," he interrupted. "'Took a lot of energy to get out, then I ended up passed out in the snow."

"And that was when you were saved?"

Billy nodded with a weak smile. "Yeah, Rosa saw me pop out of nowhere from her window of their little townhouse in Saint Petersburg. She ran out and got me. Her husband was furious, but she convinced him to take me in."

"Tell me about them?" Dinah knew asking this was treading turbulent waters of his memory. She saw when happened when the team went through the evidence and questioned him about the files from then on.

"They're dead. The agency killed them."

Dinah sighed. Deadlock. "If we know why they killed them it will also better our knowledge of the enemy and advance our pursuit. Billy, the more you tell us the better we can to keep you and others like you who are in danger safe."

Billy sighed and avoided eye contact, "They were teleporters too. They escaped the life and went into hiding for thirty years. They entered in willingly though and fell in love. It's a sweet story, really. Vlad felt I was a liability, but Rosa insisted that they taught me how to avoid the bad guys. Vlad helped me refine my skill as much as he could. Rosa helped me train my mind."

"Why did they leave?"

"Rosa was shot while on a mission. They knew the danger, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back for them."

"I see."

"They were good to me, better than my family ever was, except my mum. The only thing I could complain about was the forced language studies, but now I know that they meant well."

"What did they tell you about the agency?"

"No one really escapes it. It's kind of like a family business, which is why you all know their actions go back as far as The Great War. The hire only meta-humans, but teleporters, telekinetics, and telepaths are of high value. If you leave, you become a liability. No matter your power or skill, you leave, you die. Simple as that. Vlad and Rosa were well trained and were able to stay out of the radar as long as they did."

"Who runs this agency?"

"Josef Kotev. He's an old teleporter. He is dangerous. I have never met him, just heard about him while I was under their control."

"How did they find them and how do they keep track of you?"

Billy bit back on the oncoming lump in his throat. "After I found them dead I went on the run. I snooped around until I figured out where the kept their information and I stole it, figuring also it could save some people. They have eyes in a couple locations…" He talked more than he had before since he came into the cave. It was like word vomit; the more he let out the more empty he felt. He felt relaxed, something he hadn't felt in years.

Dinah stopped him before he slipped into Russia, "It's okay, Billy. You can stop now. You are safe and we intend to make that so." She got up, took a PED key out of her pocket, and unlocked Billy's collar.

_**Here is a long chapter. Now I can finally get to some action. **_


	6. Chapter 6

_**I'm writing this with two hours before class therefor this went totally un-beta-ed. Bear with me. "A Light in the Ruins" has also taken up a lot of my time.**_

One Week Later:

Progress was slow, but the team felt like they were making headway with Billy.

Connor and Gar toyed around with him, showing off meta-skills (although it was used to get away from the two cave dwellers. They annoyed him to no end), giving Connor ideas to present to the League if Billy chose to stay after the mission was completed. Billy remained untrustworthy of M'gann. Every time she was near him put he threw up his ironclad barriers around his thoughts and ignored her presence entirely. M'gann got the hint, but she tried to convince him that she meant no harm. Dick had too much fun when he came by one day to see Billy cooking a dinner for himself and speaking in Romani. It had been years since Dick had heard it. When they were alone they spoke exclusively in Romani, though Billy's was rusty. "În cazul în care ai învăţat să vorbeşti? (Where did you learn to speak?)" He asked one day. Billy explained to him on the run he had hid amongst some gypsies while in hiding in Europe. They traveled enough and one troop was big enough that he was able to hide amongst them to avoid being noticed. There was once morning where he woke up and started speaking French and another day it was Hindi. When Roy inquired he said, "You drop yourself in a country long enough and get left to your own devices you can pick it up fairly quickly." He had spent months hiding in the slums of India and hiding in different quarters of Paris, but he had to admit that his favorite place to go was in the mountains in New Zealand. Billy wished he could go back there and just sit on the mountain, or better yet, the old set of the Rohan Kingdom from _The Two Towers._

One day, dressed in his Red Arrow get-up, Roy interrupted Billy's training session leading him to a meeting in the middle of the cave. Batman was there along with Nightwing and Black Canary. They were talking about something that Billy knew pertained to him and the Bullet. Batman pulled up a holo-screen of what looked like dimensional designs for an android body. Billy looked closer at the image. Was that him? A naked, digital, dimensional him? "What the hell is this?" he asked.

"This is our way of hunting down the agency and bringing them down," he replied in his typical deep monotone.

"Elaborate, because if you plan to use me you have another thing coming. I don't do decoys."

"When Cadmus was infiltrated all their technologies were forfeited to the U.S. government and the F.B.I. All but their contingency technologies."

Red Arrow spoke up, "You took some didn't you."

"The League did, in case it got into the wrong hands there," he growled. "They had nearly perfected the cloning technologies, which resulted with Superboy. That technology, after much debate from with the Justice League, will be used for this mission."

Billy put the two and two together, "You're gonna send in a bloody clone?!"

Batman nodded.

"How on earth do you plan to do that, unless you can grow a new me in less than a few hours I'd say you're bonkers."

"The cloning process by Cadmus takes less than a week to create a living, independently thinking humanoid. We are going to create another Billy, with your DNA in less time by skipping a few steps in the creating process."

Red Arrow stepped closer to the holo-screen, "You're making a dummy clone. Not a bad idea. How long will that take?"

Batman looked at Billy, not giving him a Batglare but something close to it. "The sooner we can start the better, possibly be done by tomorrow night, but that depends on how quick you want to surrender some DNA for us to work with."

Billy nodded in agreement, "Take what you need."

/ / /

The following evening Billy found Red Arrow gearing up for cold weather, preparing to go to Stavropol, and had a body bag next to his feet. "When will you be back?" he asked her mentor. It was still weird calling him his mentor. He already had Vlad and Rosa.

"The plan is to make it look like they caught you in a way that it looked like they fucked up and killed you. From there I bring in some League Members to watch where they take the body and expose them from there. After that I will have to turn the body back to your father."

"That's pretty pointless."

"Got to keep up appearences, kid."

Billy crossed his arms and huffed. "That didn't answer my question."

Red Arrow sighed, "Just watch the news. This is going to go global. I won't be gone too long I don't think." He looked up from his gear. He could see Billy eyeing the body bag. "You want to see it?"

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

Roy unzipped the bag to show the exact replication of him in the flesh. The moment was odd. It wasn't everyday one would see themselves in the flesh and not in a reflection. Billy knelt next to the body hesitant to touch it. Red Arrow quickly zipped up the bag. "I can't let you touch it. The mission has to be flawless."

Billy snapped out of the curious stupor. "How are you going to track them? They have eyes everywhere."

"Nightwing planted some microscopic trackers in the skin. That is all we can do. They're just as elusive as you were."

"What happens if you fail? How are you going to get back from Stavropol to safety?"

"The Watchtower has zeta-beams. If I'm in trouble they can get me out."

"Just don't get killed, alright?" He asked, his tone was almost pleading. "Look I really appreciate all you have done for me, even though I haven't exactly dropped my guard-"

"Old habits die hard," Roy interrupted.

"-but the last time a person helped me they got killed. I don't want that to happen to you or anyone else. I can't live with that."

Red Arrow acknowledged his concerns, but reassured him, "Nothing will happen." He sighed, "Look, I'm not supposed to say anything, in fact I'm pretty sure Bats is the guy who will talk to you about it, but after all is said and done, the League will being offering you a chance to join the team, only if you choose to."

"What?" Billy was surprised.

"Yeah, Connor said something some time back. It would be probationary for a while, but you have potential. The fact that we have a teleporter means we can travel without the liability of a transportation device."

Billy thought about it and wasn't sure if he could take the chance. "I can't get past a third teleport. How is that valued?"

"You have combat skills. Both things we can work on and build from there and help you gain some control." With that being said he picked up the body bag and walked to the zeta-tube entrance. He stopped and turned his head, "When I get back I will push the League to let you out of here for a while, maybe some time out in New Zealand. I heard the weather is pretty nice this time of year." Red Arrow disappeared into the zeta-tube and was gone.

/ / /

Billy and the rest of the team watched the news eagerly every day. Red Arrow, Batman, and Martian were gone on the mission, following the agency closely without notice. M'gann was too far out of range to hear what was going on over in Russia. Dick stayed behind to cover for Batman in Gotham but also to keep an eye on the team, especially Billy. The only word to politely describe him at that moment was tense; that was putting it politely. He went back to training alone, but not without Dick's watchful eye in the shadows. Whenever he could see him get out of hand he would call Billy out on it then he would walk away mumbling in Russian, very occasionally in Romani. He picked up on the profanities.

On the fourth day Connor called him into the living room. Every news station broadcasted the same images.

They caught them. The Bullet Agency was exposed.

One station had a whole history of the agency and their alleged assaults. They claimed that this discovery would change history books around the world. Historians were losing their minds. Evidence of past major crimes were set to be looked over. Josef Kotev's mug shot was shown. Then his school photo from years back came on the screen. The newscasters only said that they found one victim that didn't make it while a hostage, noting that he was a runaway, and then reporting that his father was not making any statements. Figures, he thought. "The Justice League was on the scene but declined to issue a statement to the press but it is known that Red Arrow of Star City is playing the role of Chaplain for Billy, the recent victim, and his family in North England." Everything had gone according to plan, but it didn't feel like it was over.

Billy went back to his room trying to let the new information sink in. He had been running from the Bullet Agency for years. He had learned to sleep with one eye open, to time his teleports, and learn to run no matter how tired he was. Suddenly a part of his life was irrelevant. Dick had come into his room, "Hey. I heard that they got them. The League members came back and said Red Arrow will be running a little behind, 'had a little difficulty trying to find the zeta tubes in London. That's good news, right?"

Billy looked up at him and gave him a half smile, "Yeah I guess so."

"Shouldn't you be happy? You don't have to run anymore. No one is going to come after you."

He shrugged, "It's just, everything-ah, I don't know." He sighed, "Nothing is ever going to be normal for me. I thought when I saw them exposed that I could go back into the world and live freely. You know what that's like?"

Dick sat down next to him, "Yeah, I do. Nothing goes back to normal. You have to create a new normal."

"It just feels like it's still not over." He got up and left the room. He waited by the zeta tubes for Red Arrow preparing in his mind his expression of gratitude. Nothing happened for about an hour. He was supposed to be back by now. Where the hell is the bugger, he thought. Billy picked himself up began to turn away from the entry ways. The power in the cave went out but flickered on. The other rooms were all fine, no one noticed. That was suspicious. A holo-screen popped up out of nowhere. When he turned to face it, another face that was familiar to him glared at him and began to speak in a broken Russian-english accent, "Silly boy. You are smart, but you forget we are one step ahead of the game."

Josef Kotev.


	7. Chapter 7

Everything that Vlad and Rosa described him as were true. No matter what he managed to look clean cut and business like. The pictures they showed Billy were dated, thirty years back he had short brown hair but now was buzzed and gray. "Ah yes. No matter where you go we can find you, so why don't you give yourself up and join us. It must be terribly exhausting having to trek the globe, yes?"

Billy narrowed his eyes glaring at the holo-screen. "How did you find me? I have been here this whole time and you never made a move."

He chuckled, "We don't like to mess with the Justice League or any of their sub-teams, but it seems that we didn't have much of a choice other than to involve them." Images from the big bust flickered on the other side of the screen. All of them had Red Arrow zoomed in on the frames. "The League is smart, but you would think they wouldn't leave a member of their own alone to tie up any loose ends of the mission." He finished the sentence with a quiet but sinister chuckle.

Billy put the pieces together quickly. "What have you done with Red Arrow?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out. You wouldn't leave your mentor to die, not after all he has done for you?"

Billy snarled, "Show him to me. Show him to me now!"

"Ha, now why would I do that?"

"Call it insurance."

The screen flipped to a security camera frames. Three big men in black SWAT-like gear crowded around Red Arrow, who was handcuffed to a metal chair, head hanging low, looking weak. There was one other guy, dressed in a suit with his sleeves rolled up, as if he was going to work on something messy. He placed his hands on the sides of Red Arrows face and Red Arrow screamed in pain. Josef Kotev spoke over the audio, "We have resources as you can see. You little archer friend has impressive mind control, but John there also has ways of breaking through. Once we broke the wall we were able to storm the castle and of course find you."

"This a live feed?" Billy asked.

Josef chuckled, "Of course it is."

"Why?"

"I only want the best in my business, and like those who buy at an auction I will do whatever it takes to get what I want. I only see Red Arrow's use to my company as a two-for-one deal."

"Is that how you got them, used a mind manipulator to get the people to work for you? Where did you find him? Sweden?"

"Ha, you are smart."

"What do you want from me?"

Josef smiled, "I just want you, and if you know any others with your skill I would like them too, but I think I can settle."

"If I meet you, if I give in to you, you will let him go?"

"Of course."

"And you will leave the rest of the League and the younger team members out of this?"

"Yes, I just want you."

"Tell me where."

/ / /

The armory was typically off limits to anyone in the team, but it was there in case of emergency and they couldn't handle it, typically for the non-metas in the team. Billy didn't care. He knew teleporting in the cave was off limits, something he was alright with, but the situation was different. He couldn't tell anyone what was going on with Red Arrow nor could he get them involved. Half of them didn't know the whole truth of his existence and why he was seeking asylum in Mount Justice. They only knew he was a runaway and Red Arrow's protégé. He teleported into the armory and took stock of weapons were available. Small guns, too subtle. Size large fire power, not practical. Billy then eyed a small baretta on the lower racks. Something about it felt right and he grabbed it along with a few magazines and a small knife in a drawer to his left. Billy Young was planning to take back what was lost when his skill was discovered.

The next place he went was his room in the mountain. A few weeks into his training he began to assemble his combat gear. Billy had planned his post-saving time and wanted to go after Kotev and the Bullet Agency. When League made a move on the agency and Red Arrow let it slip that they would accept his on the team he began to make his identity and name. It didn't take long to make a blood red shirt and black cargo pants, Kevlar plates sewn into strategic places. The mask was simple, black with traces down to his jaw. Everything he made was thrown together for function and stealth. He was going to need it to take down The Bullet Agency. Billy Young was going to rise from the scared and paranoid boy on the run to force to be reckoned with, Chaser. First he had to take a quick power nap to ready his body for his calculated three teleports to get there, sneak in, and save Red Arrow. The only way he would do it more than that is if he was touched by another teleporter, but that didn't count.

Josef left him with a picture of the place. That was how it worked for teleporters; they needed an image or a memory to focus on and they were there. Kotev sent him pictures of the wharfs and shipyards in Liverpool. Which one they were in was for him to find out. Billy slid into her gear, happy with his handiwork, loaded his gun and knife by his waist and ankle; in addition he had an inhibitor collar, just in case.

Billy stalked the shadows avoiding all the members of the team, making himself invisible to any security devices The Bat and his family of birds could have installed without anyone knowing. Using a zeta tube was out of the question, the computer would tip the whole cave off that he was going somewhere. The only time he wanted them to know he was on his personal mission without any briefing or notice is if something were to go wrong, horribly wrong.

/ / /

It was a dark and moonless night in Liverpool. It wasn't hard to find where they had their new headquarters, it was the only warehouse that was had light shining through the windows. When he looked at all possible entrances, in hopes he wouldn't have to use any more teleports than needed, he grumbled at the sight of all Kotev's security guys, two at each door. Damn it, he thought, no way in but his way.

Chaser leaned back into the shadows and thought over his next course of action carefully.

Teleport.

Kick some ass.

Hunt down Kotev which would lead him to Red Arrow.

Take out Kotev and teleport back to the cave, saving Red Arrow and him recovering from the three teleports.

There was no room for failure. Failure meant death.

He focused on the inside of the building readying his knife and he was in.

Six guys were in the room and they all looked stunned to see Chaser in the room. He wasted no time in taking them out and keeping them down. One by one he made stabs at their legs and arms. Punches and combat kicks were thrown knocking four of the big men out of their wits. The other two guys passed out from the pain he inflicted. He looked around to see what the men were guarding. A pair of blue, metal doors. Chaser pulled out the gun from his waste and slowly opened the doors, which opened to a dark room, the only light coming in was from the room behind him. He entered and was highly alert. He began to feel the toll on her body that second teleport made, but it wasn't too much to find his voice. "Your men are down, Kotev. Show yourself."

Something tapped his shoulder and he felt himself being teleported by touch. Josef had Chaser.

In a flash he was in another poorly lit room, Josef stalked behind him to the lamp and flashed it in his eyes, laughing as he briefly blinded him. "Well look at you," he snickered. "You even made a catsuit, how quaint. I have to admit that it will prove rather useful when you start working for me."

Chaser raised his gun at Josef, "Cut the chatter, where is Red?"

Josef walked behind a desk and opened the drawer, pulling out a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. Chaser eyed it suspiciously but Josef smirked, "Call it insurance. Sit." He gestured to the chair to her right. "Leave the gun on the desk please."

Chaser reluctantly sat down on the wooden chair. "Where is Red Arrow?"

"You are quick to business aren't you? You don't care to know about the fine details before you become one of the New Bullet Agency?"

"New?"

"You think I really let the Justice League take the real agency down? William-"

"Chaser."

"Right, Chaser. The Light from all those years ago weren't the only organization to use Cadmus cloning technologies, we were just good at covering our track. Not even The Batman could find us."

"So all those that are in custody are not even the real people you forcefully employ?"

"John is not forcefully employed."

"Besides the point."

"Yes. But I had to send a few of my real men in just for appearances, of course, and finding recruits just isn't as easy as it used to be. That is why I said new."

"How do I know you aren't pulling my leg? How can I make sure that Red Arrow is still alive and you didn't just trick me."

Josef snapped his fingers and a closet door opened. In the small space was the guy he called John. He stepped aside to reveal a sitting but not functioning Red Arrow, unconscious, beaten and bruised. Chaser wanted to run to him, touch Red Arrow and teleport him back to the cave, to hell with taking out Josef, but Josef stopped him, "Ah ah ah." He clinked the glasses between them. "You know what we discussed. He goes back to your friends and lives to shoot his fancy arrows, you work for me."

He filled the glasses with the vodka, and hands Chaser a glass. He holds his up for a toast, "To the New Bullet Agency."

Chaser only lifted the glass up to his lips before he threw the little shot glass down to the floor breaking into punches and attacking Josef and John in the process. He fought the oncoming exhaustion from the second teleport as he laid his might onto John, keeping his hands as far as he can from his head. Chaser used all the combat and hand to hand skill Rosa and Vlad taught him, only faltering twice with John's boot on his throat, but he managed to wiggle out of his grasp. Josef did nothing but watch. Out of some miracle Chaser wrapped his arm around John's neck, not hard enough to kill, but enough to force him to pass out. John dropped like a ton of lead.

Chaser stood over him and looked around for Josef, who was then standing behind Red Arrow, now in the middle of the room. Josef Kotev had Red Arrow facing up, barely coherent, pulling him by his hair with a knife at his throat. "You still have a chance to make sure he lives. Join me now."

Chaser panting from the fight spoke, "I will never join you. You want me? Come and get me you son of a bitch."


	8. Chapter 8

Josef slowly brought the knife down and away from Red Arrow's throat, closing it and putting it into his pants pocket. He vanished into thin air. Chaser put all his senses on high alert. At any point he knew Josef would teleport right behind him and bring him down just enough to force him into submission. In the end Josef was going to get what he wanted, a teleporter to rebuild his agency.

It was quiet with the exception of his breathing and Red Arrow's labored breathes. Josef came from behind him and wrapped his arms around Chaser's shoulders and elbows. Chaser knew this move, but so did he. Without warning and with a blink of an eye they were in the middle of someplace dark and stormy. He had let Chaser go and he fell to the ground. Taking advantage of the position he swung his leg under him putting Kotev's ass on the wet ground. He recovered quickly and threw a punch to Chaser's face. Chaser could feel the skin on his face splitting and bleeding just below his mask. Kotev was using brass knuckles. "Consider that a brand, Boy," he snarled confidently. Chaser got up and elbowed him in the stomach with a fierce force. He flipped behind Kotev and punched him square in the back, knocking him to the ground, wheezing.

Chaser stood looking down. This was too easy, he thought. He slowly grasped the knife at his side. If he had a chance to rid the world of Kotev this was the time to do it, to hell with the Justice League rules. They would understand when they really heard him out. Josef laughed between wheezes and grabbed Chaser's ankle.

In the next blink they were on a cliff side. Chaser caught a glimpse of the way down and made a special effort to stay as far away from the ledge as possible. Josef Kotev was nowhere to be seen, but he could be heard. "You forget that I am far more powerful than you, don't you? That is why I am the employer." He reappeared and grabbed Chaser by his throat, pushing him up against the cliff wall. "You have to remember that experience is authority. Imagine what you can become if you work for me?"

"A psycho willing to kill to get what he wants?" Chaser mused between strangled breaths. "Then turn around and write history according to whoever pays you the most?" Josef smiled a sinister smile and dropped him, letting him fall to his knees and fight to find his breath again.

"It is amazing isn't it? No matter who is in power, they all give into their suspicions and act as children accusing the other party of a high crime. War is an enterprise and I have to make a living some how. As long as there is conflict there is business."

He kicked Chaser in the side, surely hard enough to crack a rib. "You are a key to my success. Once I have you I will have others with stealth skills and we will be unstoppable."

Chaser struggled for breath between the pain in his side and from being strangled. "If you are so powerful, why don't you get the job done yourself?"

Kotev struck Chaser across the face, barehanded but the contact stung her cuts from before. "I am the most powerful, but I am not going to live forever, not unless I get another tactical element. The Lazarus Pits would ensure enough youth to continue this business, but I have to play a hard game with Ra's al Ghul. He has his Shadows, I have the Bullet. I plan to come out on top at all costs. I needed to rebuild and send in a force to be reckoned with."

"And what of those you take by force?"

"Oh, you will be my greatest leader, once you come to my side. Imagine what you can do? Don't you want to stop running? Don't you want to prove to those parents of yours that you are worth more than just flesh? Don't you want to be taken seriously by Leaguers and those like them? If you don't join me you are worth nothing to the world. You will just disappear and be invisible. Forgotten like last week's trash." He knelt down infront of him and held his knife point at his chin. "So what will it be? Join me or disappear and die?"

Chaser thought hard for a moment while the knife was under her chin. His plans had fallen apart, but he had to finish the job. If that meant he died getting Red Arrow out so be it, but he would never give in to the man that ruined part of his life and would take his freedom. Chaser grabbed the collapsed inhibitor collar and flipped it open behind his back. He opened his knife slowly as well. Slowly he got up and took a deep albeit painful breath. He acted defeated. Chaser waited for Kotev to bring his knife down. There was a brief moment of silence between them. "Good boy. I will see to it that you become the most respected officer of my agency. Once we get the pits under our possession you will be the first, when the time comes for you, to use them. Call it a health benefit."

Chaser spat blood on his suit and willed all the adrenaline that he could to run through his veins. "Never." He then took his knife and made a stab into his leg. Kotev yelped in pain. "Not so powerful now. You won't be able to focus on the next teleport to get out of here." Kotev cursed at him in Russian and whispered something into his shoulder. Dammit, he had a comm. device, he thought. He knew the next few words he was saying and she gasped in horror. Josef Kotev said, "

Запишите его на землю.

Запишите его на землю. (Burn it to the ground.)"

While Chaser had the chance he slipped the collar around his neck while both his hands were focused on stopping the bleeding. "What do you think you're doing?" he grunted.

Chaser stared down at him, "Making sure you never hurt anyone every again."

Kotev in turn swung his leg from under him, bringing him down to the ground and closer to the ledge of the cliff. Chaser realized what the rest of his injuries were. God, did it hurt for him to get up. Dying seemed noble, but not until he saved Red Arrow. Kotev slowly got up and nudged Chaser over the ledge. He was barely hanging on with one hand. "I know for a fact you won't be able to focus on getting out of here and saving your archer friend. He could be already burning in the flames right now. If I can't have you, no one can, William." He stepped on his fingers, crushing them until he gave out and fell. Kotev laid by the cliff wall and watched his blood ooze between his left hand and tried in vain to free himself from the collar.

/ / /

Chaser fell and tumbled down the rocky terrain. It wasn't until a large and wide rock kept him from falling any further. He was still coherent but in pain. Teleporting in this condition would be like going for a fourth time. It was dangerous. But he had to do what he had to do. His mentor was still in the warehouse in Liverpool, which was by now burning bright in the warf. He turned onto his back and concentrated on breathing. It hurt, lord did it hurt him. He closed his eyes and focused on the room that Red Arrow was left in.

The next thing he smelled was the undeniable odor of smoke. Chaser was barely coherent but he knew exactly where he was. Just a few feet away he could make out the red clothing his mentor wore. He was still attached to the chair, still sitting up, his head hanging low. He could have been dead by now. Chaser didn't see any fire but he knew it was coming to them. He tried to get up but he had barely the strength to lift himself on his elbows and crawl closer to Red Arrow. All he had to do was touch him and focus about being in Mount Justice. It was going to be a rough fourth teleport. He could die, but if that meant a Leaguer lived…. "Roy!" he cried.

/ / /

Red Arrow thought he had heard his name. His civilian name. He could barely breath and see but he could feel. He felt something tug on his ankle. He peered down and saw a boy, dressed in a combat gear and a mask. What the hell?

He looked closer and could see who it was. It was the kid from before, the one he could make out that disappeared with Kotev and took down the mind-man. Shit, it was Billy. He looked horrible. What the hell was he trying to do?

"Roy!" he heard it again. He squeezed hard on his ankle. Oh shit, he was trying to teleport.

He knew his ability had limits. Billy looked like he had already pushed beyond them. He was trying to get them out. There had to be another way without him sacrificing himself. "No," he mumbled. "Don't!" Then he heard him scream.

/ / /

One. Two. Three. Chaser mustered all the energy he had left. He could feel a teleport coming on, but it was painful. It was incredible that his body could do this. He let out a screech as he felt them totally disappear from the burning building. Then he fell into a darkness. Billy Young welcomed it.

/ / /

Before he knew it he was in the middle of the living room in Mount Justice. His mind was hazy from the smoke inhalation and felt as if he could pass out any minute. The chair he was in had disappeared and he was laying on the floor. Above him he could make out Connor and M'gann. Connor was shouting something and M'gann was by his side, her cool alien hands in the sides of his head. He didn't feel her enter his mind, that was a relief. He turned his head over to see Billy. He was still, too still. He wanted to get up and run to him and almost succeeded, but he felt something touch his mind went black.

_**Alrighty kids, I can see this thing starting to wrap up. I'm sorry if there are any errors but I just wanted to get this uploaded for you guys. By the way, why no reviews? **_


	9. Chapter 9

Mount Justice: 2 Days Later

Roy awoke to the sterile environment of the cave's infirmary, alone. Everything in his mind was crystal clear, which surprised him. He jogged his memory a bit and remember good chunks of the time before M'gann put him under (more than likely for his own good). How much of that clarity was real though? That mind reader could have done a million things to him and he wouldn't know it. What if the whole thing with Billy being in a costume, looking close to death , wasn't real? What if it was? He was his protégée, he found him, he was his responsibility. He had to make sure for his own peace of mind. The only thing keeping him from moving to do so was the head rush that came with trying to sit up. He took stock of his current physical condition. IV among other tubes attached to him, oxygen running through his nose, stitches and wires attached to his head and his wrists were wrapped up too. Now if only he could think of how long he was laying there.

Roy was hoping against hope that Billy was alright, if anything the image of his near death was just implanted in his mind. If he was this bad off god only knew what Billy was like.

Dinah showed up moments later and boy was Roy happy to see her. That happiness was quickly washed away when he really looked at her. Dinah looked exhausted. What the hell had she been doing? Training the young ones of the team never wore her out, she was too on top of her game for that to happen. "Good to see you functioning," she said with a half-forced smile. She pulled a chair up to Roy's bed side and slumped into it.

Roy flashed a crooked smile, "Yeah, everything is really clear. I guess I recovered nicely, huh?"

Dinah looked him over from the chair, "You did."

They were silent for a moment. Roy had so many questions, things he wanted to verify if they were real. But he had to ease himself into asking. He knew Dinah well. If he asked right off the bat about Billy she would just tell him that it wasn't a good time, that it would slow down whatever healing he had left to do. He had to play coy and be clever. Roy began by asking a question he already had the answers to. "What's the damage report?"

Dinah sighed, "Nothing that can't be fixed. Smoke inhalation and some brain damage but J'onn said there wasn't anything to worry about. We were just waiting for you to wake up for the last two days."

Two days. Roy had been out of it for two days. 'Smoke inhalation'-then what he saw was real. Billy was somewhere either dead or dying. "What happened to Billy? Is he alright?" he asked.

Dinah shook her head and sighed. "The League and the team are hoping you can fill us in on that."

"But is he alright?" Roy wasn't going to beat around the bush. "Is he safe?"

Dinah rubbed her eyes with her thumbs. She was tired from lack of sleep, keeping an eye on her lover's former partner (she knew how much he hated being called a sidekick) and his ailing protégée. "He's stable. Had to bring him back twice, but it's up to him now."

"What do you mean 'bring him back'?"

"Roy, he was dead on arrival, but M'gann brought him back. A few hours later I was almost sure we lost him, but J'onn crept into his mind and willed him back to fight."

Roy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Billy died TWICE. He had been fighting for the last two days and no one was sure if he will make it. "What is he like now?"

"He's in a coma."

"So we have no idea if he will even wake up?"

"Roy, you need to rest," Dinah said as she was getting out of the chair. Clearly she gave Roy some unwanted anxiety. Roy grabbed her wrist, "I will tell you what I know if you tell me everything about him. I found him, he is my responsibility. If I don't know what is going on with him then I'm doing a horrible job of being a mentor."

Dinah didn't sit but she gave Roy her full attention. "Alright, you tell me what you know. What do you know happened to him?"

Roy laid his head back on the pillow, "He and Kotev had a showdown. He took down the mind man he had on his staff and then they disappeared from the room. The next thing I know the guys that weren't taken out started to set the place on fire and I drifted in and out. The next thing I hear is Billy yelling my name. I look down and he is in some costume looking like hell and grabbing my ankle. He screamed and then we are here. You know the rest of the story. Now tell me everything about him, what have you been doing to keep him alive?"

She sighed, "He has injuries that resemble those of a lot of hand to hand combat. Some head trauma, but nothing that would warrant him being in a coma. There are obvious signs that he was strangled. Cracked ribs from some blunt force trauma. Some smoke damage to his lungs, but nothing like yours. J'onn has been working on healing him and finding him in his mind, but like before he has impressive mental barriers."

Roy took in her words but some of it didn't seem real. That couldn't have happened to him. Billy is a teleporter. He would have easily escaped all that. He did. Oh god, he muttered. "I know why he isn't waking up."

/ / /

Dinah took Roy in a wheelchair (the head rushes made him damn near fall to the floor) to the room where J'onn was touching Billy's head. If he looked horrible before he looked like hell now. He was hooked up to so many monitors and other machinery that it was hard to see where to machine began and the man ended plus a tube down his throat so he could breath but take the strain of his body to do so. Dinah tapped J'onn on the shoulder and whispered in his ear. The martian turned to face the archer, "I understand you know why he is unable to wake."

Roy nodded, "Yeah."

"Please explain. It may aid us in bringing him back mentally."

"Okay, his ability to teleport, he said it worked like a muscle. You have to train it and build it up. Every time he uses it he has to focus a lot of energy to do so. He was only good for up to three teleports within the span of one hour otherwise it strains her whole body. After that he has to rest. From what I saw he was either on his third teleport and didn't have the energy for it or-"

"Or what?" Dinah interrupted.

"He went for a fourth."

"I don't understand," J'onn said.

"Look, he told me he went for a fourth teleport and it didn't go so well for him. Something about being unconscious for a period of time. I think a few days."

"He strained herself," the martian said.

Roy nodded in agreement. It seemed like a plausible explanation. The only way they could truly know is when he woke up to tell his tale. "What are you going to do for him now?"

J'onn turned to face the invalid, Billy, who was laying motionless in the foreground. The only sign of life was the slow blip on the heart monitor. "I will do whatever is in my power to heal him physically. I have called Zatanna for some of her expertise in healing and my niece to bring Billy back into consciousness."

"And after that?" Dinah asked. Yeah, Roy was curious about that too.

"Batman is on the investigation team with Green Arrow and Nightwing in Liverpool. The Lanterns are looking for Kotev, all of this happening as we speak."

"He's going to face the Bat, isn't he?" Roy asked. He was concerned about that. He had a feeling that Billy went on a rescue mission without permission. He remembered the wrath the Bat unleashed on the four team members who were involved in the undercover operation against the Light. He shuddered at the thought. Billy was fearless, but The Batman scared everyone when it came to facing consequences.

"When he is well he will. At this point my only concern is making sure he is well in general."

Roy nodded in agreement. Dinah then began to push him out of the room and back into his. Dinah made sure to make her pseudo-son had about another twenty-four hours of rest before he resumed any physical activity, like walking about the cave. Roy only stopped her to say one last thing to J'onn. "Do whatever you have to."


	10. Chapter 10

The following day Oliver requested his former sidekick to return to his estate in Star City. Although he didn't say this directly to Roy, he had Dinah tell him. Roy had yet in his life to say no to Dinah when it came to his physical best interest. The archer took his time walking down to the zeta-tubes, still feeling fairly shakey on his feet, but he would be damned if they made him stay in the infirmary one more day.

Roy had no reason to be there and The Batman ordered him out of the cave. He wasn't doing anything for Billy lingering in the cave. J'onn and Zatanna put the kid back together and M'gann managed to bring him into a light coma. It was improvement, but he still had a long way to go; he had yet to wake up after all. Roy still felt like he should have been there but the Bat's word was law.

Oliver tried to make it as normal as possible for Roy, as if the day Speedy stormed out and broke the partnership didn't happen, but that wasn't so. Roy didn't talk much but he was very attached to his phone. Nightwing and Dinah told him the moment anything changed they would notify him, but he heard nothing. Roy only talked when spoken to. Ollie got him to go out on patrol a few times, usually short stints on the streets, and coaxed him out of the house once, but it didn't last very long. Each and every time he returned it was early and he was anxious. It later evolved into restlessness and short tempers.

Just as the first week had ended Roy was convinced that it was going to be longer than he expected for his protégée to come back to reality. Dinah dropped by the house and could see what the wait was doing to him. Roy wasn't sleeping well and Oliver had enough of the attitude. It was one thing to feel responsible for what happened, but it was another for dragging others along for the ride.

When Roy caught sight of Dinah standing in the kitchen he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at Dinah with tired and pleading eyes. "Anything?"

Dinah shook her head slowly. "Just some movement, a little more brain activity, but nothing more." Both her and Ollie could see his posture slump. "You can't beat yourself up over this," said Ollie.

"Roy, we were all blindsided by Kotev's plan. What happened to him wasn't your fault."

Roy shook his head in disagreement. "If I was on top of the game I wouldn't have been kidnapped."

"But we all missed the main Kotev's main motive. He was after Billy and he was going to do whatever it took to get him." Ollie was adamant about that. "He found the weak point in our mission and exploited it."

Dinah spoke next, "We didn't know he was gone until you both landed in the cave. We should have kept a better eye on him and you."

"You both think telling me this is going to change the outcome?" Roy was tired of hearing how it wasn't his fault. It was all words and no action. It annoyed him and only made the guilty feeling worse. He glared at Dinah, "Why are you really here anyway?"

Dinah sighed, "It's about the investigation."

Roy looked at Ollie. He knew he was involved in the investigation of Kotev and Billy's altercation. "What did you find?"

Ollie got serious. "We found Kotev's body on a cliff side in Mexico. He was stabbed in the side and had one of our inhibitor collars around his neck. We have some evidence and plausible reason to link Billy to his murder."

Dinah spoke, "The Justice League will keep this within the our jurisdiction since the public believes Kotev is in international custody awaiting trial, but Billy is still going to face some serious consequences."

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a feeling what was coming next. "Just give me the cliff notes."

"He will be brought to the Watchtower when J'onn deems him well enough to stand our trial and after Batman interrogates him. We need a little confession without martian interference." Ollie was almost monotone. That should have set the tone for the severity of the situation.

"As of right now he is charged with manslaughter, a dozen counts of assault, and three counts of weapon theft," Dinah said.

Roy felt the need to defend his protégée. "He isn't even going to get a chance to defend his actions?" he asked. "I'm sure he had his reasons to kill him after what they had done to his _real _mentors. Besides half those charges we all do on a near daily basis. Where are our charges?"

"It wasn't a sanctioned mission, Roy."

"I don't think it should matter. Yeah, killing a guy is serious, but everything else he did was to save me. You would have done the same thing, right?"

The two didn't answer. Roy got the message and it made him furious. "I don't believe this!" He stormed out of the kitchen, grabbed his jacket, and walked out the door, hopping on his motorcycle. Ollie followed him out, "Where the hell are you going?"

Roy didn't answer. He put on his helmet and sped out of the driveway. He was off to the nearest zeta-tube.

/ / /

When he entered the cave he was met by Nightwing. He seemed elated about something. "You got here just in time. He woke up."

Roy's heart leaped, "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I am that Batman is speaking with him. Seems like he is recovering nicely after all that."

Batman was already interrogating him? Shit, he should have known. "What has he told him?"

"Not much. He has been asking for you, anxiously too."

Roy ran to the infirmary and opened the door to see Billy with an inhibitor collar already around his neck. Batman was looming over him but he didn't care. Once he caught a glimpse of Roy in the doorway he visibly relaxed. "Roy."

"Nice to see you with us again," he smiled.

Batman turned to face the archer. "This doesn't concern you."

"Like hell is doesn't. Like you said, I found him so he's my responsibility."

"I thought you were dead, I was too late," Billy said, barely audible. He was still very weak, but he was coherent enough to speak and answer questions.

"Harper, leave. You have been temporarily relieved from active service until further notice." The Batman shot him the infamous glare.

"My protégée, my responsibility. Whatever the League has against him, I should know as well."

"Fair enough." He turned to face Billy. "Tell us everything that happened right before you left the cave."

Billy took a deep breath and collected his thoughts, "Right after the newscasts I left the room to the middle corridor of the cave. Kotev hacked in our communications systems after sicking of his mind men on Roy to get the information. He wanted me and he had Roy. I went after him after picking up a few things from here first, like the Chaser suit."

"And the weapons," Batman interjected.

Billy nodded, "Yeah, those two. The plan was just to use three teleports, get there, get him, get back, but I didn't have a plan B. I got there, took out the staff, but Kotev was pulling out all the stops to get me to join his side. Long story short he had me down for the count until the right moment. Yes I stabbed him and I put the collar on him."

Roy felt indifferent about the whole confession, "Did you ever find out why he was after you?" Batman glared at the archer. He wasn't supposed to be involved in the interrogation process.

"He wanted teleporters to wage his own war against The Shadows to declare who had the largest wanker to run the world. He wanted these Lazarus Pits so his army could be next to immortal and so he alone can be the most powerful bloke in the world. Kotev wanted us to get the upper hand and take out Ra's al Ghul's forces. He was going to make me the bloody leader. I wasn't going to let that happen."

"Then why kill him?" Batman growled.

Billy glared at him. God, that kid was fearless. "Are you serious? You should know by now. He has killed all those who have opposed him or forced them into the life. He would go to great lengths to get what he wants. He is responsible for starting nearly every global conflict in the last century. He killed people I loved and hurt the ones I care about. I did what was necessary for the safety of others and you know what, I took him out. And you wanna know something else, I don't even regret it."

/ / /

Roy and Batman were walking back to the zeta-tubes when Roy inquired about Billy's fate. For the most part The Dark Knight said nothing after his confession aside from what he communicated with the original six members or the League. "What happens to him now?" Roy asked.

Batman talked but didn't look at the archer as he spoke, "When he is released from medical care he will face a speedy trial at the Watchtower."

"But he is more than likely going to get sentenced, isn't he?"

"Most of the charges against him have been dropped in light of the situation and his age, but the manslaughter charges will not be overlooked."

"Give me a rough estimate."

"A few years in custody and then life with the collar."

"Seems a little drastic. You don't think you're making a mistake, sentencing a hero in the making?"

"I don't make the same mistake twice." And the Batman was gone, off to wherever he goes in the night in Gotham.


	11. Chapter 11

Star City: One week later

It was an arduous few nights for Red Arrow who had returned to his flat in the more run down sector of the city. Life was next to normal now since he had no control in the League when it came to Billy's case. Only sanctioned visits were allowed where he was being held in the cave. The space was to the liking of the rooms hospitals had for convicted criminals in need of emergency medicine. Roy had no way of getting in contact with him. Nights where the activity on the grounds were low allowed him to justify a few things in his mind. One, he didn't fail Billy. That was something he had to fight his mind to accept. Two, he did have a connection, albeit short lived, with the teen. It seemed to be on a professional level though on his end. Three, it was time to move on. His fate was up to the League now. That part would suck.

Roy peeled off his costume and took a quit shower before collapsing on his small bed. Sleep, something he thought he could go days without, pulled him into its clutches and he happily submitted. No dreams, no nothing. A nice change of pace before kicking off his day off from anything Queen Industries and JL related. He hadn't slept this well since the night he visited Jason in Gotham and they broke into Bruce Wayne's liquor cabinet, drinking until they passed out. A fond memory of the times they had before he was killed. Strike that, the last time he slept so well was when M'gann touched his mind when Billy saved him, back in the cave.

Like all great slumbers they feel cut short. It was noon, too early after a night of crime fighting, when his phone rang. God dammit, he mumbled. The caller i.d. said it was a restricted call. It could be anyone he thought, but he hoped it was someone he knew. Any stranger would cower in the wrath of a cranky Roy Harper. He flipped the phone open, "This better be an insanely beautiful woman or I am hanging up."

"Roy, you need to get down to the cave," it was Connor. God, the damn kryptonian didn't understand the human race's need to sleep in every once in a while. He had messaged the teams that he wasn't to be contacted for at least twenty-four hours, just to give him a full day off from the job. What part of that did he not understand?!

Roy grumbled, "I told you trolls not to call me. Unless the world was ending again leave a message."

"It's about Billy," Connor said,

Roy groaned as he pulled himself into a sitting position, "I don't have any control over that anymore."

"He's gone, Roy."

Roy was awake now, "What the hell do you mean he's gone?!"

"I mean what I said," Connor's temper was getting short. "As in he isn't in the cave and nowhere to be found."

"Tell the bats, I'm on my way."

/ / /

It seemed like everyone and their brother was scouring the cave, high and low, for any sign of Billy. It was like he disappeared into thin air-again. All but one of the six main members of the League were there, with their sidekicks too, questioning and giving them orders. Batman and Nightwing were missing. It was strange since this was a mystery only they could solve. No one just vanishes. Roy spotted Dinah, "Have you checked any security feeds?"

Dinah looked at him as if he insulted her, "Do you really think we wouldn't?"

"I'm sorry, but you know the bats, they could have something up their sleeves. Where are they anyway?"

"They called and said some new vigilante has them tied up at the moment."  
"Okay, what do we know?"

"He over-rode the collar," she said while pulling up the feed on a holo-screen. "You have to have a lot of power in order to pull that off."

It was just as she said. Billy was just sitting there on the bed, pulling and tugging at the I.V., freed himself and then he was gone. Other feeds showed him running back to his room in the cave, pulling on civilian clothes and other items he was initially found with. The collar was still on. "Don't those things have a tracking function?"

Dinah glared at him, "Do you think we are that stupid, Roy? We even implanted a little tracker. Flash found them both."

"Had to be a bloody mess if he got the implanted one out."

"We found the traces in Star City and the collar in Bludhaven."  
"So he teleported twice, geez."  
"That isn't what we are concerned about?" Dinah shot him a suspecting glance. Roy got the hint.

"You seriously think I let him loose?"

"You are a leaguer, so you have the capability to unleash the inhibitor."

"Batman took that off my hands when he relieved me from duty."

"Just making sure."

A tense moment of silence fell between them.

"Well since nothing can break those damn things who do you think let him out?" Roy asked.

"Someone who has access to the same tech that made it, but that would only be Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl, but they have had their hands full. No signs point to Gotham anyway. Until we can get Batman on the case we have dead ends."

Roy thought of one other option. It was totally farfetched, but it couldn't be ruled out. "Red Hood?"

The mere mention of the name made Dinah skeptical.

"Who else would have nearly identical tech and skill, and possibly be in Bludhaven?"

/ / /

He was down to his third teleport. The blood loss back in Star City from wasn't helping him regain any strength. Billy dug at his bicep to get the little chip out of him, painfully but it was easy. The collar was another story. It was a miracle and dumb luck that he managed to override the blasted thing, but he wanted it gone. Lord only knew what other thing were in that thing that would bring him down.

Why escape? Prison up in space didn't sound very appealing. He didn't care for the possibility of being tracked when he got out either. He freed himself by killing Kotev and taking down the Bullet Agency for good, why should he be punished for that? He saved countless lives by doing so. Suddenly being part of a Justice League-esque team wasn't so appealing, not with the rules they followed. Nothing would ever get accomplished.

Billy hid the blood stains with him jacket and walked up a fire escape. He didn't like this city. He knew Gotham was stuck in a darkness, but Bludhaven seem condemned to it. A labyrinth of tall buildings and low lying, dirty streets. Perfect for hiding until he could get the collar off.

The familiar cock of a gun sounded at the back of his head. "Getting a little too close for comfort, kid." The voice was rough and gruff, it reminded him of Roy. But Roy wouldn't have been able to find him that fast nor would he have a gun in his possession. "Turn around quietly."

He turned around and faced the person in question. Red helmet, leather jacket, and armour. Definitely wasn't any remaining member of the Bullet, this guy wasn't so subtle. Billy didn't say a word. The man tapped his gun on his collar, "On the run, huh?"

He wasn't even going to dignify that with an answer. He looked down at her shirt and could see the blood soaking up on the side. "Take off your jacket."

"Why should I?" he snarled.

"You want to bleed out?"

That was new. "You're not some bloody lunatic trying to get some?"

He tapped the collar with a gloved hand. "You're not going to get far from them with that thing."

"How do you know them?"

"Spent a little time on the inside, now are you going to let me help you get out of here or not?"

Billy nodded his head and peeled the jacket off to the side, one arm still on. From the sleeve down to his side the shirt was soaked with blood and it dripped down the side of his hand. He took out a little device and opened it. Billy panicked. To him it looked like another tracking device. How could he have been that stupid to fall for that? "What the hell?!" He pulled away from him.

He grabbed his arm and placed the device on the deep scratches which pinched them closed. "They will fall out in about two weeks."

That had Billy's attention. He looked at the kid's arm, now it was beginning to burn, like some soap was poured all over it. "This little thing is basically an infection fitting nano-tech stitches."

"You're pulling my leg?"

"No." He yanked on the back of her collar and he felt a zap around his neck. To his surprise he watched the collar, now in pieces, fall down to the street. He rubbed his neck in response. Billy turned around to see who this guy who freed was, but he was gone. So that's what it feels like, he thought.

Billy heard his voice again, but it bounced from different parts of the alley. "Better get on the run. You can rest up in warehouse forty down by the docks for a few hours, but if I ever see you here again or Gotham I won't be so nice."

Billy pulled the jacket back on and slowly worked his way down the iron ladder. "Better keep a good distance between you and that red archer too."


End file.
